Since faces can be read as easily as words, Buffer employs a welcoming hero image for its Skillshare class.

The photo emphasizes the end-value to users, highlights the brand’s credibility, and uses emojis to signal urgency. When competing for attention and conversions, visual content helps you stay top of mind and maximize the ROI of your social media strategy.

2. Foster Community With User-Generated Content

The best social media accounts foster a sense of community. User-generated content is a powerful tool for rallying your followers around a common cause while promoting engagement.

Calling on your audience to create user-generated content:

Opens a dialogue that helps create a sense of belonging

Shows that you care

Establishes a conduit for comments, likes, and shares

User-generated content is a win-win method for connecting with your audience, plus it generates valuable social proof.

3. Drive Action With Emotion

While mindset fluctuates by the minute, emotionally charged content always enables you to cut through the noise, hook attention, and prompt a response. The more stirring your posts, the more engaged your users will be, and the more likely they are to respond.

If you’re aiming for shares, the strength of emotion – not the type of emotion – is what drives results, according to Jonah Berger, Professor of Marketing at Wharton, and author of Contagious: Why Things Catch On.

Content doesn’t need to be inspiring or funny. It can create indignation or sadness. Your aim is simply to steer these elevated emotional states to the desired action.

For example, this heartfelt video shows Robert Downey Jr. delivering a bionic arm to a needy child

To sustain the interest of your social following, divide your brand story into chapters. Then, craft a narrative campaign that showcases your company culture and reveals your past history:

Post photo updates of office events

Share behind the scenes videos

Publish blog posts describing how you’ve overcome struggles

Showing your human side inspires trust from your audience

To drive conversions, try linking consecutive posts that tell your broader story. Keep your audience in suspense with an intriguing series of Tweets. Once you’ve released the final post, use the accumulated anticipation to motivate a response.

Here's email marketing platform MailChimp showcasing its unique story on Twitter, “Why The Founder of MailChimp Turned Down $1 Billion in Cash.”

Given that social media is used primarily to connect people, MailChimp’s article is a powerful way to differentiate the brand by its people and values: Mailchimp’s founder sacrificed a hefty paycheck to maintain the company’s values.

If your story has an opportunity to resonate with people, they’ll be more inclined to participate and remain loyal to your brand.

5. Spark Results With Specific Calls to Action

Telling followers exactly how to respond to your posts will drive the greatest number of conversions. Sounds obvious, yet many brands fail to place or optimize their calls to action (CTA) on social platforms.

Achieving optimal conversions on social media requires a proper balance of promotional messages such as Moz’s call for users to try its new tool. Remember, though, that the number one reason people unfollow brands is excessive promotional messaging.

However, if you’re consistently sharing value, followers will tolerate these adverts because they understand you’re a business. The key is to guide action with strong CTAs that are appropriate and intuitive but never superfluous.

6. Engage With Trends and Current Issues

To spark an authentic conversation, engage with issues and trends relevant to your industry.

As demand for mobile entertainment and easily-digestible information surges, video becomes an increasingly potent way to engage followers. Whether consumers are keen for amusement, know-how, or a yet undecided mix of both – video is captivating, flexible, and relevant to every platform.

Regardless of the campaign, aim to hook viewers with a story, humor, or emotion. If your video excites and nurtures interest effectively, the viewer will arrive at the call to action charged and ready to act.

However unaligned podcasting and swordplay may be, we’re more likely to click-through after watching this compelling clip.

Brands that earn a reputation for consistently rewarding video (of any sort) enjoy an engaged, loyal following that’s ready to convert.

Review Your Social Media Strategy

Tweak your social media strategy with these 7 tips to drive and sustain an authentic conversation with your audience.

As these leading internet brands have shown, orchestrating an effective social media strategy requires irresistible content, attention to detail, and the latest consumer psychology.

Ian Heinig is a copywriter who loves big ideas, brand strategy, and psychology. Most days he's drafting new ways to share value, but he's also an illustrator, yogi, and freelance burrito analyst. Find him at radicalartsdepartment.com.

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